Denver Broncos / NFL

John Elway surrounds Broncos with "winners" in front office

John Elway has consolidated the front-office staffing for the Broncos, dismissing Brian Xanders as general manager in the process. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Walk through the upstairs offices at Broncos headquarters and it's usually remarkably quiet. Administrative assistants silently, but busily, attend to the details of the men they work for. The men spend hours burrowed inside offices watching film of players or making phone calls regarding personnel issues.

Pat Bowlen, the longtime owner, and team president Joe Ellis sit behind impressive desks in the upstairs business section.

In the football operations area, the grandest office belongs to John Elway, a larger-than-life former quarterback, a Hall of Famer with two Super Bowl rings who didn't become an NFL executive until 16 months ago.

In another office sits Matt Russell, director of player personnel, the recently promoted former Butkus Award winner as the best linebacker in the country. There is an office occupied by Mike Sullivan, the new salary cap guru, recently a high-powered agent who for years made his living negotiating "against" salary cap gurus. The director of pro personnel, Keith Kidd, grew up in a football family and has been in the NFL for 18 seasons, but from 2005-08 he was writing scouting columns for ESPN.com.

The people and résumés are impressive. What the football operations offices at Dove Valley don't have is a whole lot of experience.

At least not much experience in the roles these men hold.

"When you talk about experience, we're going to have a consensus with the decision-making," Elway said. "Ultimately, I've got to break any ties. If you look at Matt, even though you say he hasn't been around the front office, he's been around three Super Bowl winners. Keith Kidd has been with two Super Bowl winners. (National scout) Adam Peters has been a part of two Super Bowl winners.

"Those guys have been in winning departments and know what it looks like."

Decisions by committee

The perceived inexperience surfaced when Elway recently streamlined the top part of his front-office structure by not renewing the contract of longtime salary cap manager Mike Bluem and parting ways with general manager Brian Xanders.

Bluem, who was quickly hired by the Indianapolis Colts, was replaced by Sullivan. Xanders, who is contemplating several offers, wasn't replaced.

So who is the Broncos' general manager?

"What's your definition of a GM?" Elway asked.

A GM has various job tasks depending on the organization, but in many systems he's the guy responsible for building the roster.

"We really kind of split up the job," Elway said.

Russell has the most front-office responsibility beneath Elway. Russell was a longtime scout for the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Broncos, but he wasn't given his first front-office executive role as director of college and pro personnel until January.

"Matt has been in the business of evaluating players for a long time," Elway said. "And he's very good at it."

Kidd's father, Roy Kidd, was Eastern Kentucky's coach for 39 years. Keith Kidd has worked for the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Patriots, ESPN's widely used Scout Inc. and, since 2009, the Broncos.

"Keith has started at the bottom and has worked his way up and worked in virtually every department and every role," Elway said.

Matt Russell is part of the Broncos management hierarchy, serving as the player personnel director. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Mark Thewes, the former personal assistant of coach Josh McDaniels, is handling personnel administrative duties, including collective bargaining agreement compliance and communication with the league office.

And then there's John Fox, the head coach who has been on NFL coaching staffs for 24 seasons and is involved in every roster decision.

"We get everyone's opinion," Elway said. "We'll go to a position coach and have them look at players we have interest in. From a year, four months ago to where we sit now, we all know each other a lot better. And I know everybody. And having had a chance to work through two drafts and this offseason with free agency, you get a feel for everybody. With the people we have here, I'm excited about it."

Besides, what difference does it make who sits upstairs when Peyton Manning is hanging out downstairs in the locker room?

In his two recent offseason practices viewed by the media, Manning was efficient on shorter passes, but his arm strength isn't all the way back from where it was before he missed last season because of a neck injury.

"Peyton is getting accustomed to what we're doing offensively, and we're trying to mesh what Peyton likes and what we're doing here," Elway said. "There's a process to doing that. A lot of what Peyton does comes with anticipation. That takes reps and practice. I have no concern about Peyton. He's everything that I thought he was, and I think he's going to be as good as he's ever been."

Management overrated?

There is one theory in sports that all successful franchises start at the top. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants have the continuity of the Rooneys and Maras. The Patriots have Bill Belichick. The Chicago Bears' long run of mediocrity, meanwhile, is often blamed on the Halas/McCaskey family.

But there is another sports theory that suggests management is overrated, that winning and losing is all about who has the best players.

The two theories don't have to be mutually exclusive. It was Fox, Elway and the Broncos' organizational structure that lured Manning from free agency in late March when at least nine other teams could not.

Manning, more than anyone else within the Dove Valley walls, has raised legitimate expectations to Super Bowl or bust. The way it used to be around here, back in the days when Elway was not hanging out upstairs, but downstairs.

"The exciting thing is last year we were able to kind of turn the mentality around," Elway said. "To me one of the hardest things when you struggle is changing the mentality of the players to where they believe they can win games. John and his staff did a great job. Obviously Tim (Tebow, the Broncos' quarterback last season) had a lot to do with that. We won a lot of close games and got in the playoffs and won a playoff game, and we did a lot more than was expected.

"Now, when you get a guy the caliber of a Peyton Manning, those type of players at that position, now you have a chance to compete for the world championship. Which is my job, to get the best people in here, the coaches, the players and personnel staff and give them that opportunity. That's why we do this. That's why I'm here."

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.